


Decision (Season 1 of Prometheus Unleashed)

by The_Shroud



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-03-06 02:08:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18841465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shroud/pseuds/The_Shroud
Summary: AU. Like, very AU. Once Adrian Chase finally breaks Oliver Queen, he realizes that it is only because he has been brainwashed through the torture, not a true confession. He turns upon his mentor, Talia al Ghul, who has been manipulating him to believe her lies. Yeah, I wonder where I got that one from too. One Season Story. Incomplete. Rated M for torture, death, violence.





	1. Didn't Have To

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Arrow specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.
> 
> A/N:
> 
> An AU story based on an idea I had. Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, disagreements, changes, questions, etc. I like doing alternate takes on characters, where they are instead good, or neutral, or evil, or any number of changes are made to them, also being done to other characters. And this is an extreme example, where I take probably the most psychopathic character in Arrow and try to give him an AU backstory to change results drastically. It's sort of inspired by how he says "What?", like he hadn't been breaking Oliver for a while, spawning an idea in which actually Oliver was under the influence of Vertigo hallucinating the whole thing, leading sort of to another idea, with Talia not being evil, while this has Adrian manipulated by Talia, combined with a plot point inspired by how Diaz manipulated Cayden James. And if you're wondering, Talia's motive was that Oliver abandoned doing what needed to be done, and then became full-blown revenge. The story begins below.

2017

Unknown, Star City

He was speaking to the man who killed his wife, Oliver Queen, "Confess, Oliver. You don't kill because you have to, so why?! Why do you do it!?" It was ridiculous. That may be a plausible excuse to his loved ones, but a man who killed only when necessary would not have killed an innocent women. It didn't make sense otherwise, he could only be a psychopath, that sometimes stopped only to trick those that cared about him into accepting it.

Oliver spoke up, in a whisper, "Because I wanted to." He admitted it. But it was all wrong. He confessed, but it was out of desperation, like he didn't believe anything else, like he was broken, not like he was truly admitting something he did.

He asked, confused if this was a ploy, "What?"

Oliver continued, "I wanted to," before pausing, looking down, and then yelling, "I wanted to! And I liked it!"

He, Adrian Chase, paused, before smirking, bluffing to himself, "Is this, what, an attempt to stop me from finding out?"

Oliver crouched down, exhausted, saying, "Isn't this what you wanted, for me to tell the truth? Isn't it?!"

Adrian snapped, "I wanted you to confess that you killed my wife! Then I would kill you, like you killed her, mercilessly! She didn't deserve to die, but I think you do, Oliver!"

Oliver fell back on the floor, shaking his head, "What are you talking about? I didn't even know you-"

Adrian continued, "Stop lying! I know you killed her, I saw the surveillance footage, from January 20, 2015."

Oliver just fell silent, shaking his head and blinking in confusion.

Adrian crouched and pulled out his phone, with the surveillance footage.

In the video, a woman was setting up dinner, checking a clock, before sighing in resignation, about to walk to the bedroom. At that moment, a man dressed in green with a bow at his side and a quiver at his back, dressed exactly like Oliver had as the Arrow, jumped in through a back window. He pulled out an arrow and shot it at her chest. She crumpled in pain, as he pushed her to the ground, pulled out a flechette and brutally stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach with it, causing her to bleed out significantly, but not quite to death. He then stood up, pulling out only the flechette, wiping it off on a nearby cloth, and then walked out the back. Twenty seconds later, Adrian had walked in, beginning, "I'm home-" but then rushed over to her, holding her in his arms, pleading as much as he was attempting to assure her, "Don't worry, you'll be fine, stay awake, everything's okay, just-", hopelessly, as she died in his arms.

He put away his phone, standing up. "Now do you remember? Or is your list of victims so long you've forgotten anything about them?"

Oliver choked out, "That's not possible. I wasn't in Star City then. I was recovering from nearly dying at the hands of Ra's al Ghul. I wasn't even awake again yet."

Adrian was going to lash out again, accuse Oliver of lying, but recognized a name. "Al Ghul?"

Feeling broken, Oliver just answered, not understanding what Adrian was fixating on, "Yes. I killed him, too. And you're right. I must ha- I liked it too."

Adrian groaned in realization. It was never about getting justice for his wife. Talia al Ghul only trained him because he was a convenient tool, to get back at Oliver for killing her father. But then why did she have Oliver framed back then - unless she had another grudge even before that. She had trained Oliver, claiming that she hadn't known he was a psychopath who like to kill. But maybe she was the one who tried to force him to kill. And then when Oliver rejected killing after the Undertaking, she considered it a rejection of her.

Then that meant, all those people she told him were criminals, were corrupt, were dangerous... might have been innocent. All this time he had blamed Oliver... but he was the monster who had killed innocent people. Even if Talia had lied to him, he had been the one to do the deeds. Deeds that he didn't have to do.

He felt sick. His world, that he had reconstructed over the past years, crumbled around him.

Discombobulated, he stepped out, needing time to think. He contacted Evelyn, "Meet me here. Now."

And Talia had lied to Evelyn too. Ironically, they had tried to shock him into confessing by pretending he had manipulated and killed her. No wonder Oliver had been so strong, so resilient - he had merely been telling the truth all along. And Adrian's rage had blinded him to it.

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----#####-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Morning, Next Day

Unknown, Star City

Slowly, he woke up. As he slowly sat up, he saw he didn't have any chains on him. As he looked around, blinking to clear his vision, he saw Adrian and Evelyn.

Confused, he started, "I thought you killed her."

Adrian shook his head, and explained, "No, it had been to manipulate you, but our goals have changed."

Still groggy, Oliver asked, attempting but failing to growl, "What did you mean about your wife?"

Adrian explained indirectly, "Two years ago, a man named Simon Morrison, the illegitimate son of Justin Claybourne, came home to find his wife dying, with a green tipped arrow embedded in her stomach. He was contacted by a woman, Talia al Ghul, who offered to train him, so he could get justice for his wife. About half a year ago, he came here, under a new name, Adrian Chase. He was lied to, told by her that people that were merely innocent were criminals, corrupt, dangerous, using planted evidence to convince him. Until yesterday he believe her, and so did Evelyn Sharpe. Not anymore."

Oliver asked angrily, "What changed? Why should I believe you anyway?"

Adrian answered morosely, still guilty over having listened to Talia, "Because I'm letting you go. And I'm offering to help you against her, as well as Evelyn. But only if you let us."

Oliver deflated, "Doesn't matter. I've lost everything. I'm a psychopath. It's better I just hang up the hood, leave this all behind..."

Evelyn defended, still reeling from having realized she was manipulated, "Even if you shouldn't use the hood, even if you did kill people, I... guess you can make up... for it. Talia will still come for you, your friends, and us. Would you just let them die?"

Oliver relented, still uncertain, "Fine. But you're going to have to prove this." He started standing up, only to stagger a bit. Adrian and Evelyn immediately went to his sides, helping him stand, even if he didn't need it, even if they didn't have to, feeling they owed far more than it.

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----#####-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Bunker

Diggle, Curtis, and Felicity were arguing. But then Felicity looked over behind Diggle, to see Oliver, bloodied and tortured, asking herself as much as she was asking Oliver, "Oliver? Oh my god." This prompted Diggle to ask the same question, only to see Adrian and Evelyn behind him, immediately causing him to grab a weapon.

Oliver dropped his bow and arrows, and raised his hands, speaking in a still haunted tone, "Guys, guys! Calm down. It's a long story, but... they're on our side."


	2. Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Arrow specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> The second chapter! Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, disagreements, changes, questions, etc. So it begins below.

2017

Bunker

John Diggle, Curtis Holt, and Felicity Smoak were arguing, tired from searching for Oliver all night. But then Felicity looked over behind Diggle, to see their friend Oliver Queen, bloodied and tortured, asking herself as much as she was asking Oliver, "Oliver? Oh my god." Diggle echoed her, only to see Adrian Chase and Evelyn Sharp behind him, causing him to swiftly grab a gun from his hip.

Oliver dropped his bow and arrows, and raised his hands, speaking in a haunted tone, "Guys, guys! Calm down. It's a long story, but... they're on our side."

She, Felicity, immediately protested, "On our side? What are you talking about? Evelyn lied to us, Adrian killed Billy."

Adrian moved his head to the side, furrowing his brow and frowning, asking, "Who-"

Oliver interrupted to explain, "That's what Talia wanted us to think. She set that up, she set up everything."

Adrian continued, "This whole time, I thought I was ten steps ahead. But I was being manipulated just as badly as you and Evelyn."

She was about to retort, before Curtis interrupted, trying to prevent an argument, "Let's not get too hasty, alright? Maybe Oliver's right, let him explain what he means."

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Later

Diggle was nodding doubtfully, "Okay, let's assume this is the truth. If so, what are you going to do next?"

He, easing into a seat wearily, decided, "It's over. John, it's over for me. I don't want to do this, anymore. I'm shutting everything down."

Curtis asked, bewildered, "Why?"

Oliver replied guiltily, "When Chase had me, even if he had been lied to by Talia, it helped me realize something Anatoly told me, that I can't live by two names, that I have to recognize my darkness. I understand now, that I wanted to kill. I even liked it!"

Adrian attempted to apologize, "Oliv-"

He cut Adrian off, "No. It's true. I need time, to- to think, to change, to become a better person. And while I do that, I won't be able to protect any of you, so I need you to lay down and away from Talia."

Evelyn inquired, "So we're just gonna let her go away?"

Oliver elaborated, "No, she won't stop now. I'm going to call in the Bratva. She doesn't know yet that Adrian knows the truth, and I'm willing to bet you know where her place of residence is," looking at Adrian.

Diggle challenged him, "Oliver, sending in the Bratva isn't the right choice. What if she takes someone hostage?"

Adrian agreed, perturbing Diggle, "Diggle's right. She'd slaughter them, she has a small army of acolytes."

Oliver insisted, "I trust they'll complete the job," before turning to Adrian, about to ask him where Talia was located.

Adrian negotiated, "In the meantime, what if I or Diggle take control of the team in your place?"

Oliver shook his head, "No, I still don't trust you enough, Adrian. Even if the team stays safe somehow, I don't want Talia to think anything suspicious is going on. Her place of residence?"

Adrian gave up, writing her location on a nearby scrap of paper and giving it to him wordlessly.

Oliver thanked him, before walking off.

Felicity spoke up, irritated, "So we're just letting it go down like that?"

Adrian smirked, "No. I'll be there too."

Diggle considered, stating, "We'll go too. To provide backup against Talia."

Adrian joked, "Thanks, John, I never knew you cared that much about me," prompting a glare from Diggle and Felicity.

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Oliver's Home

The man who had been his brother on Lian Yu started speaking, "Thank you for being here on such short notice. I understand that after last time, I have run out of favors. But this is an impossible situation, and you're my only option," and turned around.

He, Anatoly Knyazev, extended his hands forward and then out as if to shrug, before retracting them and stating, "Obviously. Last time you made very clear you did not want Bratva in city."

Oliver explained, "Circumstances have changed. I need you to kill Talia, who is now at this address. She is very skilled, and has various somewhat skilled acolytes," handing him a piece of paper.

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Later

He spoke, relaxed on a chair next to his friend, "Interesting. I never thought you would give up the hood."

Oliver replied, "Well, you were the one who told me it was silly to think that a, a piece of cloth could contain the, monster inside of me forever. You were right."

Anatoly understood, "Such a burden, always being right. Life has no secrets."

Oliver, barely amused, continued, "I should have listened to you back then."

Anatoly, slightly troubled, chuckled, "Least now you see self clearly. Man must know who he is to be happy."

Oliver challenged, "You think I deserve to be happy?"

He attempted to comfort his friend, "Why not? I am happy. My old friend has finally remembered his oath, and is about to make his brothers very rich! You should be happy too."

Oliver sunk back into his chair slightly, and also into his depression, confirming his fears that he had lost the determination of the Hood for the laziness of Oliver Queen and the connections of Oliver Queen for the isolation of the Hood, saying, "I just want Talia in the ground."

Anatoly assured Oliver, "You'll be please to know, I've got only the best men with me. Otlichno [1]. There is only small matter of... my downpayment," attempting to divert Oliver's mind from whatever matter he was becoming obsessed with.

Oliver insisted, "There's no downpayment, Anatoly. I want Talia dead immediately."

He continued despite this, both for Oliver and the Bratva, "After last time, I need small gesture of goodwill. So my men can see that you are serious. It's like you Americans say, 'let's make deal.'"

Oliver considered this, "You said that your fee has two parts. I will make sure that you acquire the first tonight. You get the second when you take Talia out."

He finalized the argument in a friendly manner, "See? I knew we could both be reasonable, hehah. Let's toast. Please tell me you did not put away the vodka."

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Talia's Place of Residence

The eight Bratva they were working with, at the cost of diabetes medicine, had gotten to the front of the building. At a signal from Anatoly, they had all burst in.

The Bratva had began to move in up ahead, until encountering resistance. Over the comms, he heard gunfire, swords swinging, and bows firing. He signaled for his team to provide support as a second wave.

He grunted as he jumped down from the fence surrounding the previously supposed abandoned warehouse, to be followed by the rest of the team, Dinah, Curtis, Rene, Evelyn, and unfortunately, Chase. They were dressed in black, with hoods covering the top of their heads and cloth masks covering most of their face. He had a silenced pistol, Dinah had expandable batons, Rene had dual handguns and a knife, Evelyn had a bow and arrows, and Chase had a chokuto.

They charged in through the door, to find fifteen acolytes engaging five Bratva in a dojo with a variety of obstacles were strewn about, and three other Bratva were badly injured. Curtis started to help one of the uninjured Bratva pull the others out.

Within, as the Bratva, Rene, and Evelyn provided covering fire, he, Dinah, and Chase moved up to the center, left, and right, respectively. Chase stabbed one in the spine through an obstacle before swinging around to slit another's throat and use their bodies as a new source of cover. John followed suit, shooting three acolytes in rapid succession in the chest, trapping another acolyte in a choke-hold, driving them into unconsciousness while ducking to avoid an arrow and shooting where acolytes tried to move their heads out.

Dinah crept up to the left of a lone acolyte before using her left baton to choke them until they fell limp. Another acolyte popped out from around a corner to swing a sword down at her, which she blocked with her other baton, before swinging the left to the side of their head, knocking them out cold and moving behind the corner.

Seven acolytes left, John counted. He breathed in deeply, as the Bratva, Rene, and Evelyn moved up. An arrow managed to hit Rene in the shoulder, and Evelyn started carrying him out. Five acolytes jumped out, one each trying to occupy Dinah, himself, and Chase, as two others charged forward. Despite getting hit, they managed to surprise the Bratva long enough to inflict some severe stab wounds.

As Curtis and Evelyn continued bringing the Bratva out to prevent loss of life on their part, John managed to wrestle the sword out of the acolyte's arm, before grabbing their arm and twisting until it snapped, then putting his pistol to their chest and pulling the trigger. He glanced over to his sides to see Chase fighting his acolyte off and then Dinah getting pushed back by her acolyte. He aimed, and shot them in the back without hesitation.

The last two acolytes ran from behind their cover, buying time for their leader. Dinah yelled, "Go! Curtis, Evelyn, and I can hold them off!"

He and Chase rushed up ahead, to see Talia about to try and escape. He shot at her, but she jumped away from the window in time to avoid getting hit. She leaped at them, blocking Chase's chokuto with one blade of her own, and knocked the pistol out of his hands with another. As she kneed him down to the floor and moved to cut his head off, Chase jumped at her, leading to her dropping a sword.

As he got back up, picking the sword on the ground up, she had kicked Adrian off and was swinging at him, Adrian barely avoiding or blocking each strike. Right after she knocked the sword out of his hands and elbowed him to the ground, John swung his own blade to block hers, saving Adrian. She rolled back, considered her options, and jumped out through the window.

He ran to it, but she was nowhere to be seen. John walked back, extending a hand to Adrian, who said honestly, "Thanks."

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

City Hall

Diggle walked in through the door. "You called?"

He replied without looking up from his papers, "Anatoly just thanked me for supporting the Bratva and preventing deaths with my team. I said, that's impossible, the team doesn't currently exist." Getting up, he continued, "When I told you to stand down, I meant it." He walked out of the room without looking at Diggle again.

\-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----~~~~~-----=====-----+++++-----=====-----

Days Later

A man was talking, "It's clear the attack occurred after details of the DA's schedule were compromised."

Deputy Mayor Lance understood, "A leak."

The man continued, "Until we can confirm the source, DA Chase will be transferred in to the Federal Witness Protection program. No Star City employee will have access to his file."

He joked, if honestly, "I'm not really sure all of this is necessary." He had tortured Oliver, and had listened to Talia's lies, simply accepting the idea of a quest of vengeance. Perhaps he deserved it, for Talia and her acolytes to kill him, like they tried yesterday.

Oliver didn't accept it. "Adrian, please. Your safety is of paramount importance to this office." Adrian nodded, understanding it to convey Oliver's own understanding and disagreement of that viewpoint. Oliver finished, "Do it," before walking next to him, and whispering, "I don't forgive you, but this isn't over. I'd rather have you working against Talia with us than not at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> This concludes the second chapter. I hope it's, at least, a good chapter. In the next few chapters, we'll see more canon divergence, and more of why this has its rating.
> 
> [1] Otlichno is Russian for 'Fine,' if the episode and I got it right.


	3. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third chapter! Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, disagreements, changes, questions, etc. It's a very short one, but I didn't want to cram two subplots into a single chapter. So it begins... below.

_Midnight, Early April 2017_

_Bunker_

He was speaking to his team, "...it'll be sooner rather than later."

Felicity interrupted, "Uh, guys, I think you need to see this."

They gathered around her, seeing a picture from security cameras of Adrian as Prometheus. Oliver grimaced. "Talia knows he's not on her side, and so she's taking measures to limit him and us as much as she can. Can we contact hi-"

Felicity shook her head. "They've already sent out an arrest warrant. The U.S. Marshals guarding him have probably arrested him already, unless he escaped." [1]

* * *

_Earlier, in the Late Evening_

_Federal Protection_

He was writing with a pen on a notepad, a book laid down on the table as well, but heard a texting notification from one of the four Marshals. As he raised his head, he saw in a reflection of the glass on a lamp that he was showing it to the other three. Putting two and two together, Adrian realized Talia must have leaked a photo of him as Prometheus. He looked over his environment, seeing the book in front of him and the lamp to the side.

As two of the Marshals stood up and each took a step forward, he used his left hand to pick up the book and threw it at the left one's stomach, making him crumple to the floor, while shattering the glass of the lamp against the wall with his right hand. As he picked up two large, sharp shards of glass in between his thumb and index finger and one between his ring and little finger, the forefront Marshall charged at him. Adrian evaded him, throwing the first two shards precisely at the other two's guns and knocking them out of their hands, while grasping the closest Marshall in a choke-hold until he fell unconscious.

The one he threw the book at earlier attempted to get up, only to be knocked out with a swift kick. As the other two advanced, he threw the last shard of glass at the ceiling light source, throwing the room into darkness.

Taking advantage of their surprise and momentary blindness, he crouched slightly as he moved around them, grabbing the right one in a one-armed choke-hold with his right arm as he knocked the other down to the ground with a punch of his left fist. He tightened his hold until the Marshall fell limp, and then proceeded to punch the other into unconscious, landing blow, after blow, after blow, after blow...

* * *

_Midnight_

_Outside_

He calmly drove by, slightly sweaty, lowering his head slightly as three police cars drove past. Still tense from the fight, he allowed himself to smile, turning on the radio. Adrian whistled along to the tune, amused at the appropriateness of the lyrics. It would be a beautiful morning, if difficult, and it's about time he planned another new day and went outside of this routine as the DA for a while...

* * *

_Early Morning_

_Bunker_

She awoke with a start, from on top of her keyboard, as the elevator doors opened, only for Adrian Chase to walk out. "Oh god, it's you! I mean, it's good to see you escaped and all, but I didn't think you'd actually escap- I mean, uh-"

Chase smirked, "I understand perfectly, Felicity. The Bunker was simply the best place to stay at for now. Get some rest, you look tired. Or were you already sleeping before?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the third chapter. I hope it's a good chapter, though all too short. In the next chapter, expect Helix.
> 
> [1] If you suddenly learn that someone could be a serial killer, do you wait for authentication and authorization or arrest them before they escape? If you get it wrong, oh well, you had good reason to be worried, and if you get it right, congrats. I'm guessing the SCPD would make the reasonable choice, even if it's wrong.


	4. Author Notes Upon Focus

**Only Some Author's Notes, I'm Afraid**

By The Shroud

* * *

I have finished my month-long (and a bit extra) break (that I forgot to mention here on AO3)! During that time, I have finished 'Attack' in "Failsafe". I am still working on 'The Capture of a Traitor' in "The-Boy-Who-Didn't" and a currently unnamed chapter dealing with a Helix arc in "Decision" (previously titled 'What?'), while having also worked on the planning for those and other projects.

However, I realize that I won't be able to keep to the schedule of a chapter per day and a chapter for each of the three works every three days. Instead, I will be adding chapters on a weekly basis for now. In addition, because I don't want to lose steam on the project I've finished the outline of, "Failsafe," I will be focusing on it and saving the other two for when I have more details worked out. I am not abandoning them. I repeat, I am  **NOT**  abandoning  _either_  of those works.

I am simply trying to divide my time more efficiently. I might also start a one-shot series to give me decent but small breaks. For those who are still reading, **thank you for your patience.**

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:
> 
> This concludes the first chapter. I hope it's, at least, a good chapter. What's your opinion on it? Could it be interesting, maybe not, don't know yet? Let me know. I'm a bit more uncertain about this chapter than I have been with others.


End file.
